Bulk storage facilities typically require a material handling system that can move materials into and out of a storage facility for transport. These bulk storage facilities may be used to store salt, coal, sand, fertilizer, or other bulk materials, which can generate dust and particulates.
Material handling systems used to move bulk materials generally include a conveyor and a gallery surrounding and enclosing, at least in part, the conveyor. Such a gallery conveyor is, typically, a tubular steel structure used to enclose a troughed conveyor belt. It is also typically an elevated structure used to span over, for example, roadways, rivers or creeks, or which is for use in ship loader systems, and is primarily used when a product being transported via the conveyor needs to be isolated from its surrounding environment during transport. Industries that typically and commonly use gallery conveyors include power, cement, petroleum by-product, bio-fuel, coal, agricultural products, mineral products and ship loading.
Conventional designs, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 7,789,217, have been utilized to seal gallery conveyors to provide particulate and dust containment within the gallery conveyor. However, there are a number of technical problems in designing such systems. For example, these usually only aim for the minimal necessary dust containment using strips of belting, free moving curtains, etc., and these are usually unable to seal this area to a substantial degree. In certain instances, partial dust and particulate containment is not acceptable to meet environmental standards. In addition, traditional dust and particulate containment systems for gallery conveyors are unable to withstand strong, or storm force, winds while keeping the entire gallery conveyor enclosed, and the dust and particulates therein contained. In addition, conventional dust containment systems, such as stationary hoods, do not allow for movement of equipment such as a travelling tripper (for transferring dust and particulate materials) along the galley conveyor.
It would therefore be advantageous to have a dust and particulate containment system for gallery conveyors able to substantially seal and contain dust and particulate matter within the gallery conveyor.
It would be further advantageous to have a dust and particulate containment system for gallery conveyors that is capable of withstanding and resisting storm wind forces while keeping the entire gallery conveyor substantially enclosed, while allowing easy movement of a travelling tripper along its length.